Who Shoots a Traditional Muzzleloader

[Blkpowder Hunter]

The costs for a rifle can range from $300+ for used Thompson to $1,000+ for a new. I bought my Pedersoli through Cabelas for $600 a couple of years ago. You can also go the Kit route if you’re handy. The cost of powder is about $36 a pound from Duncans, balls are $18 per 100, caps are $7 per 100. Patch material is from JoAnn’s fabric. Then you’ll need a few other things like a short starter, range rod, anod a couple of other small things. The cost per shot is around 60 cents. So it’s a lot cheaper than center fire and a whole lot slower.

I can give you more info if you’re interested PM me, happy to talk.

 

[dblsmk]

My muzzleloader is a Pedersoli 20 ga. s x s I bought from Bass Pro maybe 25 or so yrs. ago.
It use to put quite a dent in the dove population and worry a lot of quail.
the lock time on those things are something you could time with a stop watch. Any imperfection in swing and follow thru, you would be watching breeding stock fly away.
steel shot put a stop to that kind of fun.

 

[Nuevo]

My muzzleloader is a Pedersoli 20 ga. s x s I bought from Bass Pro maybe 25 or so yrs. ago.
It use to put quite a dent in the dove population and worry a lot of quail.
the lock time on those things are something you could time with a stop watch. Any imperfection in swing and follow thru, you would be watching breeding stock fly away.
steel shot put a stop to that kind of fun.

What about bismuth?

 

[dblsmk]

What about bismuth?

I shoot a lot during dove the dove seasons. first and second. The cost of it all figured to be quite expensive, so, I figured I owed myself another shotgun.
This year I am going to 'unretire' her and use steel with shotcups. I miss that smell and if the air was still enough I had to wait a second to verify I might have hit what I shot at.
Now to redo or remake my speedloaders. It takes a little time to reload when birds are flying.

 

[Blkpowder Hunter]

I shoot a lot during dove the dove seasons. first and second. The cost of it all figured to be quite expensive, so, I figured I owed myself another shotgun.
This year I am going to 'unretire' her and use steel with shotcups. I miss that smell and if the air was still enough I had to wait a second to verify I might have hit what I shot at.
Now to redo or remake my speedloaders. It takes a little time to reload when birds are flying.

Agree on bismuth - I looked on muzzleloadingformum.com and copied this response on what to use as a lead substitute instead of steel
"
Yes, use bismuth shot. I make my own as you see in my Avatar picture, #4 bismuth just dropped from my Oasis shot maker. You can buy the shot from the following places.
Rotometals. Zip Metals, Ballistic Products. Do a type search for those companies.
You can shoot other shot types and I have. But they still require a shot cup. They are, Tungsten Shot, which includes Hevi Shot, Hevi Weight 13, 15, TSS which is heavy weight 18, Nice Shot which is made from a Tungsten slury material which is soft like lead but can be mildly abrasive. I have shot all of these over 20 years and bismuth/tin the best. The bismuth/tin shot we have today is better than it was 20 years ago. Most commercial mixture is 5% to 6% tin mixed in with bismuth. Very close to lead like performance. You need to go up 1 shot size though unless shooting very close. Good shooting."